It sometimes may be necessary for a female to urinate without availability of suitable toilet facilities. Such a situation may arise, for example, if the female is hiking or camping in a wilderness area, skiing, snowmobiling, caving, taking biking trips, at the beach when a bath house is miles away, at outdoor functions, at sporting events and other situations. As another example, such a situation may arise when a female athlete is participating in sports on a sports field where there may not be a near-by portable toilet facility or locker room toilet facility. In addition, such a situation may arise if the female finds herself in a transportation conveyance (e.g., small airplane, automobile traveling a long distance through an isolated area, U.S. Postal Service® vehicle delivering mail, UPS® or Federal Express® vehicle delivering packages or other conveyance) lacking suitable public toilet facilities. The registered mark “U.S. Postal Service)” is owned by the United States Postal Service located in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. The registered mark “UPS®” is owned by United Parcel Service, Incorporated located in Sandy Springs, Georgia, U.S.A. The registered mark “Federal Express®” is owned by FedEx Corporation, located in Memphis, Tenn., U.S.A. As yet another example, such a situation may arise when an act of nature or natural disaster strikes, such as an earthquake or hurricane, making water or toilet facility use unavailable. However, even when public toilet facilities are available, the available public toilet facilities may not be suitable because, due to public use of the public toilet facilities, the available public toilet facilities might be unclean, contaminated with bacteria or otherwise unsanitary.
Moreover, even when a suitable toilet facility is nearby, it may not be possible for the female to use the toilet facility. This situation may occur if the female is bedridden or otherwise not ambulatory and use of a bed pan is undesirable or not possible. Further, such a situation may arise when a female is involved in a military combat operation or other military setting where immediate use of any nearby toilet facility is not advisable or possible because of a risk to personal safety. In addition, in some underdeveloped or “third-world” countries, availability of toilet facilities suitable for females is severely limited.
When using a toilet facility, a female will typically sit on a toilet seat. However, sitting on a contaminated toilet seat, such as a contaminated toilet seat in a public toilet facility, can lead to transmission of disease. Diseases that have been associated with contaminated toilet seats include herpes, trichomonas vaginalis (i.e., a protozoan parasite that causes vaginitis), gonorrhea, gastroenteritis (i.e., severe inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract caused by contact with contaminated water) and other diseases. Females may be at a higher risk of contracting these diseases because females will typically sit on a toilet seat when using the toilet facility.
As previously mentioned, a female may find herself in a wilderness environment, such as when skiing, snowmobiling or the like. In cold temperatures, an individual (male or female) will typically be covered in layers of clothing. A male can conveniently relieve himself in a standing position by means of a zippered opening in the crotch area of his clothing. However, a female is usually required to remove a substantial amount of at least a lower portion of her clothing and then assume a squatting position to relieve herself. This procedure exposes a substantial portion of the female anatomy to outdoor elements as well as compromises her privacy. It is desirable for the female to avoid exposing a substantial portion of her anatomy to outdoor elements and also desirable for her to preserve her privacy.
Female urine management devices are known. For example, a funnel device to facilitate urination by women in an upright position includes a semi-rigid funnel rim contoured to surround the female genital region. A flexible funnel body depends from the rim and is sealed to the rim around the circumference. The funnel body has a continuous wall sloped inwardly and towards the front of the funnel body. The funnel body terminates in an orifice situated toward the front of the funnel body. A bendable, elongated disposal tube is sealably attached to the funnel orifice and is inclined downward and outward at an angle with regard to the funnel body. The tube is circumferentially corrugated to enable bending for storage and for directing urine flow. However, this device does not appear to provide for collection and subsequent disposal of the urine. Thus, this device may not be useable, for example, in the previously mentioned transportation conveyances where toilet facilities are unavailable.
Another known device is a disposable absorbent article which is substantially flat prior to use for wearing adjacent a body discharge area. The disposable absorbent article comprises a liquid pervious top sheet, a back sheet joined to said top sheet and an absorbent core intermediate the back sheet and the top sheet. The absorbent core comprises means for expanding the article into a tridimensional structure while being worn by a user. The means is activated by body fluids. The absorbent article further comprises an odor-control material comprising one or more odor-control agents. However, this device is not easy to handle and place near the body discharge area. Also, this device is not conveniently disposed of after urine has been collected, creating an awkward situation in the absence of an easily accessible trash receptacle.